Prescription Drug Addiction

Addiction to prescription drugs has become much more prevalent in the past several years particularly among adolescents. Regardless of age, addiction to prescription drugs can become a debilitating illness that often robs the addict of everything they once valued. Because prescription drugs are legally manufactured and prescribed by physicians, people often incorrectly assume they are less addictive or damaging than street drugs. For this reason, many individuals find themselves in the middle of a severe addiction without ever having realized the danger of what they were doing. This is particularly true for individuals that were first prescribed the drugs by a doctor for treatment of a particular medical condition. In these cases, the transition from therapeutic use to abuse to addiction often occurs so gradually that it is difficult for either the patient or the doctor to determine when the addiction started.

There are 3 categories of prescription drugs that are most frequently abused: opiates, sedatives, and stimulants. Opiates are used to treat pain and include drugs like Vicodin, Norco, Lortab, Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Morphine, and Dilaudid, and Fentanyl. Sedatives are used to treat anxiety disorders and insomnia and include drugs like Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Ambien, and Sonata. Stimulants are used to treat ADHD and less commonly obesity and include drugs like Dexedrine, Adderall, Ritalin, and Concerta. Each of these drugs has legitimate value as treatment for sometimes serious medical problems but they can also lead to debilitating addiction.

Recovery from prescription drug dependence very often requires professional treatment. At eDrug Rehab we design and provide complete recovery plans tailored to each individual addict. The treatment process involves the following steps: Intervention (if the request for treatment is from a concerned friend, family member, or co-worker and the addict has not been willing to accept help), Detox, and Rehab.